Contact-interrupter.



A. H. MATTER a; V. H. MARTIN. CONTACT INTBRRUPTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. l1, 1909.

1, l 06,230. Patented Aug. 4, 1914n 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Figi?.

Amm/.frs

Patented Aug. 4, 1914,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. H. MATRE @E V. H. MARTIN. CONTACT INTERRUP'I'ER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 11I 1009. 1,106,230.

Fig

A. H. MATRE L v. H. MARTIN. CONTACT INTERRUPTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.11,1909.

1,106,230, Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

3 BHEETSMSHEET 3.

A LCIDE HECTOR MATRE .rlNlD VICTOR HENRI MAR-TIN, OF ROUEN, FRANCE.

CONTACT-INTERRUPTER incenso;

To (f7/Z v'uf/mm,- t't may concern VBo it known that we, ALoinn HECTOR lliii'rni; and VICTOR HENRI MAn'riN, both citizens of the Republic of France, and residents ot 92 Rue de la Republique, Rouen, France, have invented a new andv'uset'ul ContactInterrupter, which is fully set 'forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to a contact interruptor device applicable to apparatus in which a part is to be caused to vibrate by clectro-inagnetic action with vibrations of very lsmall amplitude. Among these appli-- ances electric bells with direct vibration of the bell may be cited, the bell forming an armature of an electromagnet; also appliances termed electric trumpets in which the sound vibrations are produced by a sheet metal plate subjected to the action of an electro-magnet. The appliances of this nature in accordance with 'the arrangement heretofore adopted present the detect that their ope ation is irregular and luncertain by reason of the fact that the contact member is iixed relatively to the vibratingr member which is the bell or the plate and. that the separation of the contact parts formingf the circuit interrupter is effected with a very small an'iplitude which leads to irregular operation and necessitates having very delicate contact parts in order not to alter the sound, the adjustment oit these parts being minute and variable in accordance with the magnitude ot the source oi electricity and affected by the least deformations and particularly sensitive to oxidation or altera tions resulting from the passage oitl the current. Y

The apparatus which itiorms the object of the present invention obviates these detects.

lt is broadly characterized bv the 'tact that the contact part serving to form the electric circuit by its contact with the body ot a vibratingr bell, or plate is not fixed, but is :arried by a movable arm rocking on a suitable pivot. in such a manner that it has a displacement oil small amplitude by means ot' which the contact part may be brought against the vibrating plate or bell or separated therefrom by a small interval. lThis movable arm carries a pallet which constitutes an armaturesubgected to the electromagnet employed for vibrating Specicaticn of Letters Patent. Application led August 11, 1903. Serial No.i512,355.

c bell or Patented Aug. et, 1914.

the plate. As a result of this arrangement. as soon as the electro-*magnet exerts its attraction upon the body of the vibrating plate or bell it attracts at the saine time the pallet of the movable arm carrying the contact so that the break in the circuit between the body of the bell or the plate and the i contact part takes place definitely and thereby insures a clear and regular vibration and also enables strong contact pieces to be used, so that the slight alteration ot' the sur- 't'ace of the metal which in prior apphanccs has been a cause ot' breakdown, remains without importance.

The invention will now be described with Vreference to the accompanying drawing, iu

which :w-

Figures l and Q show by way. of example vthe appliance of the invention to a bell.

iiig. is a vertical section through a modilied construction, wherein an electric trumf pet isoperated instead of a bell, Fig. a is a trout view ot' the device with the case removed, Fig. 5 is a Jfront and side view showing the application ot the invention to the treble strinffs of a iiano. Fic'. ti is a artial t, o l: u perspective view of the construction shown Ain Fig. l, and Fig. 7 is a similar view of the construction shown in Fig. 3.

ln Figs. l and 2, Fig. l is an elevation showing the bell in part, and Fig. 2 is a section.

t indicates the bell which is of steel/ier.

`comprises an iron portion which constitutes the armature of an electro-magnet B arranged inside it, one of the olesnb coming into proximity with the edges ot the bell. The body of the bell forms one part of an interruptor oit the circuit of the electro-magu net B, the other part ot' the interitigqiter being formed by Vthe movable Contact device which forms the object of the present invention. This contact consists of a plate C with a plate or arm C' forming a counterweight mounted upon a spindle c supported land rocking between points on two supports D. rlhis plate or arm C carries the contact part which consists of a small strip or Wire ot platinum or other unoxidizable metal c, which when the plate is at rest touches the bell it; at a point where the bell carries a small plate oi' unoxidizable metal a. @n the olate there is iizted a rod E carrying; a part lilo Q License which constitutes an armature arranged opposite one of the poles ZJ of the electro-I with respect to its pivotal support that When 4 at rest the contact part e touches the plate f a of the bell and the arma-tripas is slightly separated from the core b/of the electromagnet B. The plate C with the parts rigid therewith is appropriately placed in position and centered for operating Whatever the position the apparatus occupies, Whether against a vertical surface or upon a horizontal surface; a small spring F attached on the one hand to the spindle c and supported on the other hand on a fixed arm G, regu` 2Q lates the pressure of the contact or strip c with the bell and adds its action to the Weight of the plate C, so as .to impart to the latter and the parts which support it, the stability which contributes to the regularity ont the operation.

A small mass of lead c? fixed at the extremity of the plate C bythe intermediary of the parasitic vibrations; the Whole constituted by the plate C and the parts which support it is of sucient mass to give it an appropriate inertia determined by experiment, in accordance 'with the attractive force of the electro-magnet, tor obtaining uniform operation.

A resistance indicated at H is placed in shunt upon the circuit, and serves to absorb the eXtra breakcurrent; this resistance may consist of a carbonpencil or any other ape@ proprate device.v

When a current `is sent into the appa-ratus in, the inoperative conditionl the circuit is closed by the small strip c in contact with the part a of the bell, the electro-magnet beingi'energized attractsn the peripheral zone armature e which being connected with the pla-te C displaces the latter,l thereby separating the strip c from the part a, of' the f3 bell, which breaks the circuit; the electra tracts the bell or the armature which permits of restablisbing contact tor again closing the circuit, and so on in succession. The

5@ current is supplied in any suitable manner as for instance, a vbattery K, connected by wires 7c and le with binding posts e6 and a? respectively. 'lhe post ai is connected by means of a Wire L12 with one terminal of the .GS iletleeroemagnet and thepost as is connected tto d e of the supports D by a Wire its. llhe resistance ltl is connected to the terminals of the electro-magnet, by means of wires ci and fc5.

G5 Figs. 3 and l represent the vibrating plate of an electric trumpet which is arranged in a similar manner, to that illustrated in the previous ligures. c i

This apparatus consists of essentially the same members as those of ythe bell just de- 7o scribed. An electro-magnet M has its poles m arranged near the face of a vibrating plate lli, and in such position that When the electro-magnet is energized, the plate will be attracted toward the electro-magnet.

A blade or plate N corresponding tothe plate C of the construction of Figs. l and 2 is mounted onl a spindle n3, pivoted between two supports C. rll`he blade or plate N carries the Contact piece a 'which in the posi-` 80 tion of rest touches a small plate Z carried i bythe vibrating plate L. A rod l? is secured to the under face of the blade or plate N at the end adjacent to the electro-magnet, and the said rod P carries a pallet p', con- 85 stitutinp,r .an armature placed immediately l opposite one of the poles mf of the electromagnet. A spring I4" is arranged on the spindle n3, and acts to regulate the pressure of the contact part or strip n with the piece Z in the same manner as the spring F, be- I. fore mentioned. ot1 small sheets c of felt acts as an absorber z `When the circuit is completed or closed, the current Hows from the source of supply as for instance, a battery W, by Way of the 95 l Wire u to the electrodnagnet M and by Way i of the Wire c the vibra-tingplate L. F rom the said plate the current passes by Way of the smallplate l and the piece n which is 1n contact With the small plate l to .the rod 100 Ngthe spindle n3, and the Wire t to the batg tery. The electro-magnet is energized and attracts the small pallet p connected with the arm N and swings the said arm to break the contact between the small plate Z and the, piece n; thus interrupting the circuit and the electro-magnet ceases to attract the pallet p and the small` plate 'Z again con- Ltacts 1vvith the piece n, again completing cr closing the circuit. of the bell and at the same time attracts the The resistance S is connected with the ter- .minals of the electro-magnet, by means of the Wires w and the saicl resistance being l'so connected in order to annul the break 'flsparkft magnet being demagnetized no longer atgcontact device is applied this device presents the following advantages: llt compensates tor all causes of irregularity or break down such as Wear due to the sparks of the extra brealr current and to friction, the dei- .ormation of the contact or of the -tittng.

l it permits of overcoming the resistance due 115 No matter to what type of apparatus the to the formation of\oXid of platinum between the contact surfaces; owing to the ready displaoeability oi the arm, the position of Wbicb is adjusted in accordance with 1' the amplitude oi' the yibration, it is possible to use solid contact wires which although relatiyeiy coarse and hard do not prevent the production of a sweet and pure sound; in addition, solid wires permit of the production of a pressure more than sullicient for insuring the passage of the current, notwithstanding the oxidation of the contartinp; parts, thereby rendering the passage of the current certain.

As in the case of ordinaryeleetric bells it permits of operating with a very weak and very variable source 0f current consisting of from two to ten Leclaneh cells in series and this without necessity tor modiiying the regulation.

lt is desirable to bring out more clearly certain points in the operation:

(l) Vhen the current reaches the electra magnet it attracts the vibrating body and stretches it; at the same time it attracts the pallet of the movable arm which rises and breaks the circuit. At this moment the vibrating body is suddenly abandoned by the electromagnet and, as it is elastic, it vibrates. At the same time .the arm abandoned to the action of the spring re-l estahlishes Contact. During the vibration ot the vibrating body. the current being fre (piently interrupted romains almost without influence` upon the pallet and owingr to its appropriate position the arm acts like an ordinary fixed contact, that is to say, with a very slight vibration7 thereby en abline,r a delinite clear sound to be obtained, To sinn up, the contact is a movable break contact and behaves like a fixed contact during; the vibration.

(2) in order to damp with greater eertain yy the parasitic vilinations. a small n ass of lead, either in one piece or divided.` is lifted to the arm by the ii'itermediary ot a small sheet of it'elt.

'(3) The arm is preferably centered so that the apparatus may operate in every plane.

The invention is not limited to the con structional details represented. Thus for exan'iple instead ol. beinemounted on a `pivot the arm might he carried by a ilexible strip. it should also be noted that the attraction oit the pallet oli the movable arm might be produced by a small special eleotromaenet, instead of being produced by the electro-magnet which actnates the vibrating; part; this use ot a small special electro-magnet might be ad antageous for certain formsA or ar alignments ot the vibra tine; member.

The invention relates broadly to the electro-magnetic movable break contact device iflesrribed above which obviates the detects oi the ordinary contact already re Ferrell to: it may be constructed with any Variations and nnnlitications not opposed to the prinijle et the device. Thus it may be employed ior producing the vibration of any parts for which it would give the same atl-- vantages such as; diapasons, strings, reeds, bell rods ete` whether these. instruments are el'nployed for their sonority or not.

Figs. 5. (5 and 7 show by way of example ronstructional arrangen'ients of the contact system described above, in cases where this system is employed `for protluciugr the vibration oi the strings ot' musical. instruments such as` the piano in such a` nianner as to cause this instrument to emit the sounds ot' an organ, without replacing the ordinary striking movements so that at Athe will' of the performer it may again become an ordinary piano, the percussion being! utilised in conjunction with the operation byvibration at the. commencement oi" this operation.

In previous attempts, apart -lrom the great defects ot regulation which have prevented these devices from being, used in practice, the contacts remained constantly upon the string which presented the grave defect that the instrument could only emit the sounds of an ervan because when the electric current was interrupted, and it was desired to utilize the instrument as a piano, as the contacts remained contartiiu,r with the strings they affected the purity of the sounds. The object ot the devices represented in Figs, 5, (5 and 7 is to obviate this detect by enabling the contacts to be sep araled from the strings at will when it is desired to use the instrument as an ordinary piano, by ercussion upon its strings.

'lhese arrangements may he as follows: llor the treble strings the electroanagnetic break contact device described for the vi brating bell and plate is retained, the con struction then being as shown in Fig. 5. In this ligure, Q designates the string that is to be caused to vibrate, and R the electro4 magnet. The movable contact part or lever S is secured to the spindle s, which is pivoted between the supports s, and the spring s: acts normally to cause the portion s ot the contact part or lever S to contact with the platinum strip or wire (j, secured to the wire Q. The opposite end of the level S carries a plate of soft iron s", and the said plate is arranged opposite one of the poles r of the eleetrirmagnct R, in such manner as to be under the influence of the attraction of the the other strings. In this rase it is not neeessai-y to retain the electroanagnet break de vice as the inertia of the movable contact part is snllirient to iliroduce the sel'mration of this pant, owingF to the shock resulting as :from `the percussion oit the ordinary bannner the stiiiig.

Upon in 'this eieiigement the vitre Q, has secured tbeieto the piet-mum strip oi Vwiie Q37 and o piece of feit g4 is ci ranged between the Wire and the strip 'to gieveiit iotting iS before mentioned.

The Contact petit oi? lever S contacts the end s with 'the strip g3 and at tbe other end thc plate SG o' soft ii'oii is arranged. The eiectio-mzignet R is :toi/ tbe reason :ibofe specified, in spaeed entioii with respect to tbe Contact pc't of "lever SQ and with tbe pole r2 adjacent 1"o the Wire.

it will be noted 'that tbe opeietioii oi1 the movable Contact might oleo be obteioeci as shown in l? 75 Wbeieii tbe tf'iie Q2 has; eeciu-ed theyeto tbe usual platinum strip 'oi wire Q5 mi@ felt etiig g is arrange@ bev tween tbe Wii'e and the platinum Strip. The Contact part oi iev-ei* S2 has one oi" its ende ai'icnfoii adjacent to the platinum strip :md the otl el* en@ coiiiee the plate s of sott iron. Vf eiectio--iiiogiiet has one of its j." i .L .L

pc ee J oo pziceiit the Wiie, and et Suppiementeig/ ele Y 'ociocignet ,it-t3 is ed- 5 end of the Contact pon. oi iea the eoppieiiientufy eiectioiimg as on m'nmtmve for tbe Suid efec- I iiieieod o'f being firmo-ged efijgw tbe Wire Q2. The soppiementoiy img/net `is foi? 'the pui-pose of i"ebe contact .37 Upon the pietinum "IKO-EHR.

tesiie secure Stntce if# 'd mice7 Coiiipiieing' in 'vicicting' body mi 'm eoii to ifibiote 'tbe mounted coiitcct mcmbex Tough tbe eectio roe; t ie Soit?.

i `^oiftion suine, e pimtci2 e biet-mg tbc ciiciut' fiioiinoiy boidi body7 and bieak tbe circuit.

2. i Contact contiivence, coziiprisiiig iii combination with a 'vibrating bodyr and on electo'magnet acting 'thereon to 'vibate tbe Some, :i pivoteiiy mounted Contact membei completing tbe circuit 'through the eiectio magnet, seid membei' being nommiy in contact With the wfb-'atiiig body @i161 boiling a. magnetic portion upon which tbe coie acts to mow-)the Seid body out of contact with 'the vibiatiiig body to break the ciicuit.

3. A contact contrivance compi-isb@ in. coii'ibiiietioii with a vibrating booty :moi an ee'ctio-megiiet acting tbei'eoii to vibiete tbe some, o pivotoliy mounted Contact membei coiifijpletiiig' tbe circuit 'through tbe electioioagi'oet', e Spring iioi'meiiy holding; tbe sziic' member iii Contact with tbe vibetting body,

and means whereby the completion of the ci; uit tn-Lough 'the 'magnet wiii. move the contact iiembe;` out of Contact with "tbe Vibi'ziting body7 to breek tbe ciccoit t A. contact connivence, comprising; in combination with a -bmting body end mi electi'o-maggiiet for vibrating me some7 e. pivoted evei having one enti in Contact with tbe tobi-sifting bodyg the otbeiend 'ceri'ying a metallic plete iii position to be acted upon by tbe 5. coitoct coiitiveiice, coiipiieiiig in combination with a jvibmtiiig body and mi electro-magnet foi" Vibrating tbe some, o pivoted lever bowing one end iii contact with the ibiwitiog body, emi ineens by @Lec i-c-niagnet Vand ectieg om tbe opposite en@ of the ievet foi swim 'ig seid. leve? to ove it outJ o2 contact with toe vibicotiiig bodyn 

